With the directives of the Public Account Committee of the Legislature-Parliament to Nepal Electricity Authority to scrap the contract for the 25-megawatt solar power system, Nepal’s has loss the opportunity to increase the power generation.

With the directives of the Public Account Committee of the
Legislature-Parliament to Nepal Electricity Authority to scrap the contract for
the 25-megawatt solar power system, Nepal’s has loss the opportunity to
increase the power generation.

Although the meeting of the Committee directed the Authority to cancel
the contract stating that the contract process itself was of mala fide
intention, it will have a long term implications in Nepal’s power sector.

The NEA, the national power utility, had decided to install solar system
at Battar and Devighat of Nuwakot with the objective of developing a mixed
power system in the country to end the load shedding.

Supported by the World Bank, it has a capacity of 25 MW. A complaint was
filed at the Committee arguing that the contract was given to an applicant who
had proposed more cost for the construction of the project instead of giving it
to the lowest among the five bidders.

The Committee President Dor Prasad Upadhyay said, “the Committee has
directed the NEA to cancel its decision of giving the responsibility of the
project to the Pidgeon and Heron JV, and call for new tenders.”

In a divided decision, the majority directed the government owned power
monopoly to select the construction company through a new process by cancelling
its earlier decision to this regard, citing the decision was found suspicious,
controversial and illegal.

With the committee call for scrapping all decisions and initiating a
fresh tender process, the solar project is now in limbo. According to some
sources, this is merely a game of commission agents who have been taking this
or that side.

This is not first time Public Account Committee has been intervening the
decision of executives. Thanks to PAC’s directives, Chameliya Project was
delayed for almost four years. This increases the cost and time of the project.

However, the NEA management has argued that the lowest bidding company
was technically not sound according to the assessment carried out by an
independent experts group.

However, Mukesh Raj Kafle, former executive director at NEA said that the
Pingao and Heron JV itself was suitable. Meanwhile, NEA Executive Director
Kulman Ghising assured that he was ready to undergo and bear any sort of action
if any kind of irregularities were proved in the bidding process for the
construction of the solar power system.

But the lawmakers had opined that the contract should be awarded to the
lowest bidder as per the Public Procurement Act and the existing financial
provisions. They further demanded action against the then Energy Minister and
the NEA Executive Director who were involved in the decision process.

Some lawmakers proposed that the Commission for the Investigation of
Abuse of Authority (CIAA) should be called in to investigate into the entire
process, suspecting irregularities of millions of rupees in the tender process.

Lawmakers Ramhari Khatiwada, Bharat Shah, Dhanraj Gurung, Pashupati
Chaulagain and Ananda Pokharel had suggested this in the meeting. These lawmakers
are in or others are associated with power sector.

Similarly, lawmakers Meena Pun and Rupa Maharjan said that while taking
action against NEA leadership may create negative impact as the leadership had
played important role to reduce the power shortage.